Back home in Yakima for the first weekend of August, and last before the start of Washington State football camp in Pullman, Lance McGee was catching some flack from Shag Williams.

The uncle whom McGee calls dad after he and wife Sharu raised the football star, had emptied his closet of University of Washington garb and left them in the Cougar freshman’s room.

“He's been giving me a hard time, but it’s back-and-forth,” McGee said. “It’s all love.”

For Williams – a Davis High Athletic Hall of Famer and four-year basketball standout for the Huskies in the mid-1980s – there’s no doubt for whom he’s rooting.

“My purple and gold will be in storage for a while now that I’m wearing crimson and gray,” Williams messaged.

McGee and WSU opened camp Thursday under first-year coach and Prosser graduate Kirby Moore.

While it’s the beginning of summer drills for the Cougars, it continues a whirlwind year for McGee.

Last August, as the reigning CBBN Defensive Player of the Year who scored 21 total touchdowns for the Pirates in 2024, the affable McGee was starting over at Sumner. While the move to the defending Class 4A champs had some questioning transfer policy, it also was emotional for McGee.

“It was pretty sad at first,” he said, mentioning teammates such as Davis quarterback and good friend Noah Newkirk. “A lot of them told me, ‘go chase your dreams,’ and that helped me.”

Once at the Pierce County school, it was the defenses who did the chasing. Down 20 pounds from the start of the season, McGee ran around and through the opposition, finishing with state-best and school-record 2,466 yards and 42 touchdowns, with nary a fumble.

He was his best when it mattered most, finishing with 368 yards and six touchdowns on 46 carries in a 41-35 victory against Lake Stevens in the 4A championship game at Seattle’s Husky Stadium. In the playoffs, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 18 touchdowns.

“I kept telling my coach, ‘feed me the ball,’” said McGee, who got a message from Sumner coaching staff led by Keith Ross. “They told me, ‘This team is going to go as far you can take them.’”

Having committed to Oregon State in summer 2025, and having capped a storybook season, McGee was flashing his wide smile. Back at Davis for a basketball game during the winter break, he jokied with Pirates coach Jay Dumas, who reminded the state’s Player of the Year that he won two state titles while a receiver at Tacoma’s Curtis.

All seemed in order for McGee. Except it wasn’t.

In October, the Beavers had parted ways with head coach Trent Bray, to whom McGee had committed to as much, maybe more than the school.

The coach, who grew up in Pullman before playing linebacker at Oregon State, and working his way up the coaching ranks to the top spot, stayed in touch.

“When he got fired, he kept in contact with me,” McGee said. “He would text, and told me that he was looking for his spot.”

Bray didn’t have to wait long, becoming Moore’s first hire and the defensive coordinator for the Cougars, also overseeing the linebackers.

A couple weeks later, McGee – who decommitted from Oregon State and was given his release from the Letter of Intent – became WSU’s first high school commit under Moore, flipping to the Cougars.

“It was a rollercoaster throughout my recruitment, but Coach Bray made it really easy,” McGree said.

Listed at 6-foot and 218 pounds, McGee will wear No. 10, under Bray’s watch at linebacker, although a move to running back isn’t out of the question, “They said, ‘you never know,’” McGee said.

For now, though, he’s excited to be where he’s at, playing under Bray.

“I never looked back.” McGee said. “I’m so excited for my freshman season.”